RU Metagame Analysis - Discussion Phase

Hey guys. As we've all seen, July's usage stats don't reflect the RU metagame at all; they don't really show what's best and things that deserve more usage aren't getting it. Well, we have the power to change that, and we can show new RU players what the true most used Pokemon should be. This thread is designed to reorganize the usage stats step by step, so the top 10 Pokemon will be determined first and so on. Please say why you think a specific Pokemon deserves the spot that it does, so we can make a list of the best Pokemon in the tier! If you're new, this thread is for you: once you get the idea of what Pokemon are the best, head over to the Teambuilding thread to find out what sets each Pokemon uses! If you're old(?) and see a Pokemon missing from the Teambuilding thread, but that Pokemon is on the list, please post a set for that Pokemon! Without further ado, let's get to organizing the tier:

I don't know about you, but I certainly disagree with most of this list! Post what you think the #1 Pokemon should be. Supporting your arguments for the placement of Pokemon and making good arguments will help earn the "Best Forum Poster Award!"

Oh for the love of god why is Sandslash in the top ten? Kabutops easily takes that spot. It's a much better spinner, has better offenses, and priority to boot. Kabutops is probably the top spinner in RU at the moment simply because of its ability to force switches and easily spin. Cryogonal is a good spinner as well, but it manages to spin because of its ridiculous special bulk, not because of its ability to force switches. Kabutops is also one of the few reliable switch-ins to CB Entei, as Kabutops resists virtually its entire moveset, with the exception of Stone Edge.

As for the other Pokemon, Moltres should be a great deal higher, and Galvantula probably shouldn't be on that list either. Smeargle deserves a spot on that list because it is just so good at what it does: setting up hazards.

I believe Nidoqueen is currently THE best poke in RU and deserves to be #1 in usage. Although, Nidoqueen is quite 1-dimensional, Nidoqueen has the ability to always apply pressure on any team thanks to its amazing coverage. It also can support the team in setting up SR and even t-spikes (which isn't recommended but it can still supply ur team if you want them). Nidoqueen is also the reason, imo, why offense has been such a dominant playstyle lately because nidoqueen all but destroys stall and balanced teams. Nidoqueen doesn't do badly against offense either although it it quite slow it has great bulk with 90/87/85 defenses which is fantastic for something with that much power. Nidoqueen also deserves to be #1 because it can fit on tons of different play styles such as HO, balance, and even defensive teams needing an offensive pivot to force switches. With proper team support nidoqueen can single handily tear through teams. Because Nidoqueen is such a huge threat every team has to account for it and know how to deal with it or play around it. And it's longevity is fantastic so even though you may force out nidoqueen one time, since it takes very little from SR and doesnt get affected by LO recoil nidoqueen would be sure to come back later game to clean up the match.

That's why I think Nidoqueen should be #1 in usage for it's ability to apply constant pressure on your opponent, nidoqueen's great longevity allowing it to stay in the match for a long time before getting taken care of, and how when your teambuilding you always have to account for nidoqueen in one way or the other.

Ok, first off, Sandslash should be NU, and Gallade and Galvantula definitely should not be in the top 10. They are just not THAT good in this tier. Anyway, since Gothitelle is in this tier now, the usage stats are sure to shake up next month anyway. But anyway, Nidoqueen should probably be #1 just because it can apply a lot of pressure to the opponent and hit everything hard. Not to mention, it barely has any counters at all. The rise in Gothitelle will most likely cause a rise in Spiritomb, which will cause Cofagrigus to become somewhat worse, although it will definitely still be in the top 10. The other Pokemon on this list are all pretty good, although Sceptile should be a bit lower in the top 10 imo, mainly because it is just not as good as other Pokemon such as Entei. Also, Slowking usage might fall a bit due to the aforementioned rise of Spiritomb, but it will still easily be in the top 10 because it is an awesome Pokemon. Anyway, Kabutops should definitely be in the top 10. That thing is the best spinner in the tier for sure, and can pose a major offensive threat as well.

Top 10:
1. Cofagrigus: Shouldn't be here really. RU has taken quite a big turn for the specially offensive side of the spectrum with moltres gaining hurricane and nidoqueen coming along. Also, with those becoming more popular, fighting types aren't as common and cofagrigus' main use has been significantly nerfed. I'm not even sure if it's the best physical wall these days either, still losing to prominent threats such as entei and SD kabutops. Should definetely be lower.

2. Nidoqueen: Nidoqueen should probably be number 1 I think. She pretty much defines the metagame dominated by bulky offense teams. Loads of resistances and solid bulk coupled with insane ammounts of power and usable speed make her so dangerous. Not really much else to say.

3. Slowking: THE most diverse pokemon in our current meta-game and definetely deserving of this place, being able to run a huge ammount of sets and proving to be a very dangerous offensive and defensive threat. While its title of "unbreakable special wall of neutral attacks" has somewhat lost its shine due to queen arriving and moltres getting hurricane, it's still a very solid choice as an all-purpose wall and pivot. Still a great mon.

4. Sceptile: Sceptile is still IMO, the best special "pure" sweeper in the tier, mostly because it has no major flaw like queen's lack of speed or moltres' huge SR weakness. It can't really function as a wall-breaker, which is just as well as it would be hard-put to compete against moltres and queen, but I still think it's definitely worthy of a top 10 spot, though probably not quite this high.

5. Uxie: Uxie is awesome. Being the most reliable SR setter in RU ever since its introduction is already a good trait but the fact that it's pretty much the only thing that can claim to stop nidoqueen has made it even better if anything. Uxie easily gets the award of "best glue and filler" for teams as it is just so bulky and can offer so much to its team. 5 is pretty much the perfect spot for it I think.

6. Entei: Entei is probably the best physical pokemon in the tier at the moment. Packing extremely powerful priority, a very dangerous STAB type, and acceptable coverage along with excellent bulk and a viable option to go mixed, entei is easily worthy of its place in the top 10. It is just so dangerous really, can't say much else tbh. Maybe a bit higher than 6 would do it justice.

7. Sandslash: Get out. Kabutops is better and cryo is better. I've never felt the need to use any other spinner than those two. Sandslash is just not good. Not enough power to be threatening, and not enough bulk to last long for a match. NU for this guy, definetely the most dissapointing in this list.

8. Gallade: Gallade is definetely good, but whether it deserve no. 8 or not is questionable. Its special bulk is really solid and coupled with its decent speed and good offensive typing and movepool makes it a good check to nidoqueen and a solid choice for a wallbreaker, but in the fast pace of the RU metagame and with physical priority being everywhere, it just can't get the chance to sweep against your typical offensive team. It's definetely a solid offensive mon, but the fact that it struggles against offense and is reliant on set-up makes me doubt its position in the top 10.

9. Moltres: The reason why you need a rock type on your team. While moltres has its flaws, if you give it the support it needs, it is, without a doubt in my mind, the most threatening pokemon in the tier. 90 base speed is actually very good and with two great offensive STAB types and 125 base special attack make it a night-mare for offensive and defensive teams alike. Great bulk and access to roost is really the cherry on the cake. Should be quite a lot higher, though it is still severly hampered by the fact that it has to rely on its team a lot to function.

10. Galvantula: Galvantula is nice, but it just doesn't cut it to make the top 10. Sure its STABs and move-pool are nice, but the fact that it is really frail, has very few usable resistances and a SR weakness and is pretty much revenge-killable by every priority user and scarfer in the tier while still being "wallable" just doesn't make it worth it IMO. There are things that can make better use of the support that galvantula demands IMO.

Wow, that took a while, anyway, here is my revised list of the top 10 and how I think it should look.

1. Nidoqueen: See my original post. It pretty much defines the metagame at the moment, pushing stall on bar-unusability (yes, that's a word now) and making BO the new "play style to play" are evidence enough of its dominance.

2. Slowking: Yeah, see my original post again. Requires little support and offers so much to its team. Slowking is just fantastic really and you can probably find it a slot on every team.

3. Entei: This place was actually quite tricky, but I finally decided to choose entei here. Entei just gives your team an excellent offensive pokemon in so many respects. Powerful priority, absurd power, and solid bulk as well. It's that good. The main reason that he's above moltres is due to his versitality and not being as reliant on support as the phoenix.

4. Uxie: I decided to put uxie in front of moltres because while it can't break down walls and has only really one set that can sweep (Sub CM), the huge list of things it can do, counter the no. 1 best, be a cleric, pivot, and reliable hazard setter all in one set and so on is just too good to be ignored. Uxie is fantastic, no other word for it really.

5. Moltres: Ya, it's amazing. Despite it's high requirement for support, moltres is still just so good. So hard to wall and enough bulk and speed to make it tricky to take down for offensive teams is awesome. I don't really think I need to say more.

6. Poliwrath: This may come as a surprise to many of you, but poliwrath is without a doubt in my mind the best physical wall in the tier (eat your heart out tangrowth). Walling Kabutops, Entei, Aerodactyl, Drapion, and Escavalier among others without even breaking a sweat is just so amazing. Despite having to rely on rest-talk, he is still just too good for stall and balance teams to not use. Even gothitelle struggles to trap him due to circle throw.

7. Kabutops: The coolest generation 1 design of all time. I've used kabutops on so many teams now since like round 3 and he has never dissapointed. Easily the best set-up sweeper in the tier and the best offensive spinner too. Despite struggling against a lot of common walls such as poliwrath, tang, and defensive cofagrigus, his ability to smash through offensive teams, especially with weak armour, combined with the fact that he checks a lot of dangerous threats such as moltres, entei, aerodactyl and such makes him so so good.

8. Smeargle: While uxie is the most reliable hazard setter in the tier, smeargle is probably the most dangerous one. He just sits there and gets his job done like a champ all while watching his opponent fumble for a counter as he sets up hazards if they haven't carefully prepared for him. On top of that, he can also run the strangely rare quiver and shift gear pass sets making several sweepers like gallade or nidoqueen pretty much unstoppable. Great mon.

9. Sceptile: Despite struggling against quite a lot of walls, sceptile is still a fantastic sweeper that can run be very difficult to handle for offensive teams. Solid coverage and not requiring a lot of support paired with its awesome speed and solid special attack make it so good. The main thing holding it back is that it is stopped by virtually all scarfers and priority abusers. Still very good though.

10. Rotom-C: This was a really tough choice between manetric, sigilyph, and cofagrigus, but I think rotom-c wins this one on the premise that it doesn't really have a "counter" as it is just an excellent scout and pretty much all ground types are smacked very hard by Leafstorm or HP Ice. While it isn't as fast as manetric, it's main competititor, it has far superior bulk and typing and is able to reliably revenge gatr time and kabutops. It is just such a good momentum setter, and the best one in the tier, which I think is saying quite a lot in this very offensive metagame.

Honourable mentions: Cofagrigus, Manetric, Sigilyph, Tangrowth.

Wow, that took a while, but I hope I gave a decent insight of what I think of the tier at the moment.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I think the reason so many players (new to RU) use Sandslash, is because every analysis on site (not counting the ones on the forums) regarding a Pokémon weak to SR, is saying that Sandslash is the solution to your problem (And it sets up Stealth Rock too!). These analyses won't always mention something like Cofagrigus will just switch in, burn Sandslash and then proceeds to put its Shadow Balls in Sandslash' face.

I'm going to put Nidoqueen at #1 right now. Seems like no one is fighting it. Remember that you can still argue to change something on our list! I'll be updating the OP until we get to the top 50 or something :>

I think that for the rest of the top 10, these Pokemon should be considered. In no particular order:
Sceptile
Kabutops
Smeargle
Moltres
Sigilyph
Spiritomb
Uxie
Absol
Crawdaunt
Fraxure
Entei
Gallade
Magmortar

All great mons and I think most of them deserve a spot in the top 10; we just need to order them. Discuss!

Well imo the list of mons provided can be further grouped into "superior" and "inferior" group. Mons listed in the superior group are top contenders with inferior mons falling below any of them, imo.

SuperiorSceptile - This is a no-brainer - it's practically a Tornadus-T of RU; its Speed checking so many threats without requiring a Scarf while hitting hard at the same time.Kabutops - The best offensive Spinner out there that also provides revenge-killing capabilities with a powerful STAB Aqua Jet to check dangerous Fire-types and Archeops. Smeargle - a very efficient entry hazards stacker for heavy-offensive team with Spore to bootMoltres - STAB Fire Blast and Hurricane hurts a ton, combined with respectable bulk and access to Roost to make it tough to take down without SRs up. Uxie - Deceptively fast for a bulky mon; good for checking Nidoqueen and Moltres (if it has Tbolt). Can play support exceptionally well with SR, U-turn, Yawn, T-Wave, and Rain DanceEntei - Flare Blitz spam is lethal from CB Entei and ExtremeSpeed is a powerful revenge-killing tool against most sweepers not named Kabutops and Archeops.Gallade - Versatile mon with good combination of bulk, offense, and rich movepool. Can go slow and steady with Bulk Up or up tempo with Swords Dance. It has quite a few nifty utility options in Wish, Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, and Hypnosis.

InferiorMagmortar - Not nearly as common as Moltres; its low bulk is somewhat exploitableFraxure - not a prevalent threat; quite bare on the special-defensive sideCrawdaunt - Adapatability is amazing, but it has a rough time setting up on teams without Slowking, Cryogonal, or defensive Cofagrigus. +1 Craudaunt is also easily revenged by Archeops and anything faster. Most teams are usually prepared to stop Crawdaunt. Absol - Packs a punch, and hard to stop Absol with priority STAB Sucker Punch; however, Absol's low Speed and reliance on Sucker Punch is what keeps it down. Unlike the mons in superior group, it also lacks overall utility.Sigilyph - Magic Guard + Life Orb goodness and a unique speed tier; definitely useful for preying on Nidoqueen and Fighting-types, but its preyed upon in turn by the dark-types of this tier. Unlike Nidoqueen, it also lacks quite a punch with relatively low-powered moves, with its strongest move usually being an 80-bp Psyshock. Definitely requires CM before it can attempt to sweep, and with no defensive investment, it can actually be hard to nab those CM boosts and not be revenge-killed soonafter.Spiritomb - Phenomenal for checking Normal-, Fighting-, Psychic-, and OTR Cofagrigus of the tier. Its niche is pretty specialized, though, and it has a hard time taking too much abuse due to lack of recovery and defensive investments.

Feel free to criticize my grouping. Mons that I believe deserve to be in the "Superior" group that were not included in DittoCrow's list includes Cofagrigus (still a very common threat), Lanturn, Lilligant, and Slowking.

Moderator

Lanturn needs a spot somewhere in the top 10 imo. When you're the only thing that can switch into any of LO Moltres's moves (needs at least 192 HP / 208 SpDef Calm EV spread to do this) that's pretty big. Lanturn is the only true counter to Moltres in the tier (it can come in, not be 2HKOed by anything from Moltres, even after SR with the above special bulk and KO back) and I think that's pretty important when Moltres is one of the biggest threats in RU atm. Outside of countering Moltres, Lanturn can do quite a few things depending on your playstyle. For more offensive teams, it can provide cleric and paralysis support while having a slow Volt Switch to get frailer teammates in safely. For stall teams, it can still act as a cleric or act as a status absorber with RestTalk. Very versatile, fits on many teams effectively, and is the most viable answer to Moltres atm.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't just take Cofagrigus out of the top 10 like that. The metagame may be more offensive but that's why more people should use offensive Cofagrigus which is actually good, especially vs. offensive teams.
Number one should be Kabutops. It's certainly the most used pokemon on my team. Practically every pokemon that needs a spinner has better offensive and defensive synergy with Kabutops than any other spinner. He's also the best at what he does. He spins and sets up Stealth Rock while still keeping the team offensive and not being set up fodder. He's got priority and still checks a decent amount of pokes, what with all the fire power in the metagame. So he's obviously not the most dangerous poke in the metagame, but I think he's the most help to any team.

Moderator

Lanturn is indeed super annoying when I choose to churn out a Zard or Magmortar team...but I still find it far too easy to get a free opening for Nidoqueen to come in on between Protect/Volt Switch/Toxic/Thunder Wave/Heal Bell/etc. Survives a Scald too if you did mispredict. And the last thing you want is to give Nidoqueen free reign to start spamming. Moltres/Fires are dangerous and all but...still gives away to the queen.

Click to expand...

While this can be a problem, Nidoqueen relies on her coverage, coverage that can't kill Lanturn except for one move; Earth Power. Sometimes, the best way to beat Nidoqueen is to force it into using one move to kill a target. Lanturn can and will survive anything but Earth Power and fire back with Scald. (Sludge Wave fails to 2HKO with the spread of 192 HP / 208 SpDef Calm which is also needed to avoid a 2HKO from LO Moltres's HP Grass after SR.) So, if Nidoqueen wants to risk taking a lot of damage and squandering her natural bulk by going for something else, then good for her. But if Queen is forced into using Earth Power, it makes Uxie's job easier and opens the door for things such as Mesprit and Cryogonal (both good teammates for Lanturn btw.) to come in without a scratch. Cryo is especially notable since I highly doubt Nidoqueen will risk using Fire Blast of all things against Lanturn.

tl;dr: yes, Lanturn can provide a free switch-in for Nidoqueen, but since Nidoqueen can only use one move to kill off Lanturn, it ironically can make it easier to stop Queen rather than making it harder. And you should have a Ground resist/immunity when you use Lanturn.

Personally I feel these should be the top ten I will expand later (Not in any order just posted them quickly)
1-Slowking
2-Nidoqueen
3-Tangrowth
4-Kabutops
5-Cryogonal
6-Entei
7-Rotom-C
8-Archeops
9-Lanturn
10-Cofagrigus

Both Kabutops and Nidoqueen are insanely good Pokemon. Kabutops is not only by far and away the best spinner in the tier, but also one of the best physical sweepers out there, tying with Gallade in my opinion. Sandslash is truly pathetic-it can't do anything at all except spin which lets face it, it does that badly as well. It's such a shame Kabutops isn't above him, as Kabutops is so much better at spinning, since it can actually get past the numerous ghost types of the tier. I love Weak Armour as well-many people have switched their Lilligant/Sceptile in after I've Swords Danced up, and been promtly 1HKO'd from a Stone Edge. The fact that Tangrowth is now so much worse due to Moltres getting Hurricane(and increased popularity), Nidoqueen and Escavalier, who is also very, very good.

Nidoqueen is by far and away the best wallbreaker in the tier. Nothing can stand up to it's powerful assaults. I'm surprised it wasn't banned frankly, but I'm glad it's still here, since it allows me to simply annihilate annoying stall teams.

Another Pokemon that isn't in the top ten is Lilligant. Why? Lilligant is my favourite Grass type(sorry Sceptile), and absolutely kills many a team. I run it with Hidden Power Fire normally to allow me to smash Escavalier who I feel is becoming more prominent. The fact that you don't know which HP it's running before it's too late really helps me to get some surprise kills. More often than not, the opponent will send in an Escavalier or a Grass type over a Moltres or Typhlosion for fear of a HP Ground. And even if they do they are losing a large chunk of their health.

OTR Cofagrigus is still fairly good in this metagame I believe, but not number one. It's still very, very bulky and TR is a great move against fast offensive teams.

I'm not sure if I've been using Sceptile properly, but I don't agree with the fact that it is the best special sweeper in the tier. HP Rock, Giga Drain and Focus Blast is great neutral coverage(hits everything in the tier unless I'm mistaken), however, Grass is not the greatest STAB type in the metagame due to all the fire types. Still, late game he can be very threatening, but only when everything has been weakned. I haven't tried the SubSeed variant, but I suspect it plays like Whimsicott only better because it has decent coverage with Focus Blast and Giga Drain, and actually has some offensive presence. Acrobatics Sceptile seems great as well-outspeeding everything in the tier, even something like Scarf Accelgor(non-existant I know, but still...), but without the LO boost will miss out on some kills.

I have used both Uxie and Entei and have been very impressed by both. Uxie is easily one of the best SR setters in the metagame, and has the bulk to act as a make shift check to pretty much anything. SR/Psychic/U-turn/Thunder Wave is my favourite set, and works very well at paralysing things like Sceptile, and then gaining momentum with U-turn. With Lum Berry, Uxie makes a great counter to Smeargle leads as well, so if your team has trouble with him use Uxie.

Entei is an extraordinarily powerful sweeper and revenge killer with ExtremeSpeed, able to revenge such threats as Moltres after LO and one round of LO damage. Flare Blitz is a ridiculously powerful move-smashing even resists like Lanturn for huge damage. Only the likes of Poliwrath and Rhydon can counter him-and they can both be taken out by a well timed HP Grass, or completely taken by surprise by the SubCM set.

Moltres is the other fire type in the top ten, and I was very surprised to see it so low. I suppose it seems as though it takes a lot of team support for it to work properly and too its full potential, but the fact is that Kabutops is quite easy to put on a team and has excellent synergy with Moltres. Hurricane and Flamethrower are the two STAB moves of choice in my opinion, since Flamethrower kills all the stuff that Fire Blast would such as Tangrowth, and a reliable STAB move on Moltres is brilliant. Either Substitute or HP Grass is fine in the last spot, as without reliable recovery Lanturn is eventually going to be worn down through hazards and repeated Hurricanes/Flamethrower's off that massive base 125 special attack and STAB and LO.

I haven't used Slowking or Galvantula, but I can say that neither really deserve their place. Slowking has become a lot worse there's no doubt about it. I think that Lanturn is a better choice as a bulky water, due to it's electric typing. A weakness to Spiritomb and Drapion is also a downside of Slowking. However, reliable recovery and a great ability in Regenerator may be a worth a resistance to Flying, an immunity to electric and a neutrality to Dark/Ghost. Galvantula in my opinion is worse than both Manectric, Rotom-C and Rotom, in that it has a weakness to SR and Spikes. I prefer Rotom out of all of these as a secondary ghost type gives him a mountian of resistances and immunites to fighting, normal and ground-three extremely common attacking types in RU. Rotom-C is also very good though-as Leaf Storm is a great STAB move, and a neutrality to Pursuit helps a lot.

Hmmm. Cofagrigus is definitely a solid pokemon in RU, although I certainly do not believe that it is #1 material. Offensive Trick Room set has definitely lost a lot of its utility, especially with Nidoqueen usage rising, who checks it with even no investment. The best set atm is probably defensive Will O Wisp with Haze, which fits best into stall. Unfortunately, stall is pretty much dead. I don't know why so many people are still using Cofag to be completely honest

2. Nidoqueen

This should be #1. Even in the current Gothitelle metagame, Nidoqueen is still without a doubt the best pokemon in the tier. The Life Orb set decimates pretty much everything and doesn't really have many hard counters. Gothitelle can trap it, but has to resort to running either the shitty weak Choice Scarf set, or having to come in after something is KO'd. Add in the fact that it takes no recoil from Life Orb and has pretty flawless coverage and you are golden.

3. Slowking

Much like Cofagrigus, I honestly don't know where all the Slowking usage is coming from. The best Slowking set as of right now is definitely the Choice Specs set, as it doesn't get Gothi-trapped and can Trick off its Choice item to cripple walls. The Specially Defensive set is no longer a catch all fire counter, especially not with ridiculously high powered special sweepers like Nidoqueen, Moltres, Sceptile etc all running around. Defensive Slowking still has a niche on Trick Room teams i suppose, which is pretty cool but they are also rather rare. I'm not entirely sure i'd consider Slowking one of the top 10 pokemon in the metagame right now.

4. Sceptile

Along with Lilligant, Sawsbuck, and Rotom-c, I find Sceptile to be an excellent Grass-type. The Life Orb substitute set decimates Moltres + Kabutops core that everyone loves, and in general hits very hard. The lack of Escavalier usage means Sceptile has an easy time sweeping with its Substitute Life Orb set. The Swords Dance set is pretty lackluster and doesn't hit hard enough in my opinion. Sceptile is definitely worthy of top 10.

5. Uxie

The most consistent Rock setter in the tier. Fast Lum Berry Uxie has made its way onto a fair amount of offensive teams to spread paralysis, beat status leads and easily get rocks down. Its even good with Gothitelle around, because you can simply U-turn out to something that can take on Gothitelle (like Escavalier). Giga Drain Uxie also gets a special mention because its baller and it fucks Kabutops and Sandslash. Definitely a top 10 mon

6. Entei

Why on earth is Entei ahead of Moltres? Most people in the RU community know how much i love Sleep Talk CB Entei, but even so i still do not know why Entei is getting more usage than Moltres. With the rise of Kabutops, something that smacks around Entei, I honestly don't know how Entei is getting more usage than Moltres. The rise of Kabutops should not only spell a downfall for Entei, but it should lead to a Moltres uprising since Kabutops can spin so consistently. These usage stats are ridiculous i guess.

7. Sandslash

For the love of god, use fucking Kabutops.

8. Gallade

Gallade is actually pretty awesome in Goth/Queen metagame, since it can threaten both immediately and is faster. Add in Swords Dance and some solid special bulk and you have an animal on your hands. The Bulk Up set is kinda dumb in my opinion, as the Swords Dance set with Lum Berry is a much better wallbreaker

9. Moltres

Already explained this a fair bit in the Entei blurb but i'll repeat. The Moltres + Kabutops duo that seemingly dominated this round should certainly mean that Moltres is higher than 9th. But alas, Kabutops isn't even top 10 and Moltres just barely makes the cut? Idiotic

10. Galvantula

I'm not entirely sure how Galvantula is still top 10 even in the Nidoqueen metagame. Nidoqueen is bulky, resists both of its STABs, and OHKOs easily. Maybe a few rounds ago Galvantula would have been useful for beating the annoying regen core of Slowking + Tangrowth, but these days I don't see much utility in running Galvantula, especially when you have (imo) better Electric-types to choose from in Rotom-c and Manectric. Good, sure, but not top 10 material.

If the usage stats ideally reflected the metagame, this is what my top 10 would look like (in no particular order)

Nidoqueen, Moltres, Kabutops, Sceptile, Gallade, Entei, and Uxie have already been discussed so i won't talk about them again.

Gothitelle

Shadow Tag Choice Specs Gothitelle is an excellent team player, and helps trap a good deal of pokemon to help aid other pokemon in acheiving a solid sweep. Trick is a good last ditch move in order to cripple something. Choice Specs Thunderbolt 2hkos most defensive Slowking, Specs Psychic/HP Fire remove Tangrowth rather easily as well. Gothitelle is an awesome partner for pokemon like Klinklang and Crawdaunt, whose hard counters are easily removed by Goth, and the common scarvers that revenge them can also be taken out quite easily

Escavalier

I can't believe Escavalier gets overlooked so often. Choice Band Escavalier smashes offense, and can come in easily on pokemon like LO Sub Sceptile, Choice Band Sawsbuck, Uxie, and even LO Kabutops Aqua Jet and threaten to 1-2HKO almost every common offensive pokemon with Stealth Rock down. Nidoqueen? Takes 85ish percent from a Choice Banded Iron Head. Moltres? Hit it with Frustration on the switch. Even if Rocks aren't down, itll be forced to Roost or Fire Blast, and you can switch to something like Kabutops. Bug STAB is also excellent in RU, especially when the pokemon using it is stronger enough to 2HKO Nidoqueen.

Accelgor

As i just mentioned, Bug-type STAB is great in RU. Accelgor can do more than that though. Sticky Hold helps prevent Trick, and Accelgor gets Spikes down easily and threatens to OHKO the best spinner (Kabutops) with Giga Drain. A Focus Sash set will pretty much always get 2 layers, and the offensive Life Orb set can Spike as it forces switches with the threat of a STAB LO Bug Buzz coming off of 299 Special Attack. Accelgors Speed also allows it to check a great deal of pokemon in the tier (including Moltres with HP Rock). Bug STAB means it won't get Gothi-trapped as well.